10.1. Franciscan philosophy forms part of Mediaeval Christian philosophy. It
was born in the Franciscan schools of thought at Paris and Oxford, where the
Order of Friars Minor had founded university houses for its students. "It can
be established...that, in the primary sources for the history of the Order, the
development of studies was regarded as a matter of course. Nowhere can any
objection be detected, except that everyone tries - not least Thomas of
Eccleston, who values studies highly - to bring them into harmony with
fundamental minorite principles. Thus, they adhere to the line which is
evident already in the letter of St. Francis to St. Anthony" (K. Esser,
"Origins of the Franciscan Order", p. 184).

10.2. Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon, Portugal, around the year 1195. His
baptismal name was Ferdinand. He spent his childhood in a rich family, and was
educated in the cathedral school of Lisbon. He entered the Order of Canons
Regular of St. Augustine in the monastery of San Vincenzo de Fora, near Lisbon,
but later asked to be transferred to the famous monastery of Santa Cruz in
Coimbra. There he received solid training in philosophy and theology,
especially in Scripture and the writings of the Church Fathers. The rich
library of Santa Cruz provided the ideal instrument for his studies. In 1219
he met the first Friars Minor who stayed for some time in Coimbra, on their way
to the North African coast to evangelise the saracens in Morocco. On 16
January 1220 these friars died as martyrs in Marrakesh. Their relics were
brought to Portugal and venerated in Coimbra. It was at that moment that
Ferdinand decided to join the Franciscan Order to go to the missions. He left
the Canons Regular of St. Augustine and became a Friar Minor, taking the name
of Anthony. But on his journey to North Africa his ship was caught in a storm
and he was shipwrecked on the coast of Sicily. From the friars of Messina he
learnt that the Order was to meet in a General Chapter on Pentecost 1221. He
left for the Porziuncola. Probably he met Francis during the Chapter. A
certain frate Graziano, Minister of the Province of Romagna, welcomed him in
his province and sent him to the hermitage of Monte Paolo, in order to
administer the sacraments to the lay friars of this community. For some months
Anthony's wisdom remained hidden from everybody, until he was asked to preach
in Forli'. From then on, Anthony led a busy life as preacher, and as "lector"
of theology for the friars in Bologna, France and Padua. He was custos in
Provence, where he preached against the Cathari. He was also elected Minister
of the Romagna Province. He wrote his "Sermones" towards the end of his life,
and died near Padova in 1231. Pope Gregory IX canonised him on Pentecost
Sunday 1232. Anthony of Padua was the first theologian of the Order, and is a
proof of the importance attached to studies in the preparation of preachers
when Francis was still alive.

10.3. Although Jacopone da Todi stated: "Mal vedemo Parisi che n'ha destrutto
Assisi!" (We do not look favourably upon Paris, because it has destroyed
Assisi), St. Francis himself, in his Testament, states: "We should honor and
venerate theologians too". It is surprising how the Franciscan spring was not
just an evangelical revival according to the simple life of the first handful
of friars, but that it developed in such a way as to embrace learned friars who
became great philosophers, theologians and mystics. Indeed, by the last
decades of the 13th century, the Franciscan Order had become one of the most
learned institutions of the time. Many friars were opting for higher studies
in the universities. Salimbene of Parma, author of a famous Chronicle, was
preoccupied to save his books when the city of Parma was on the point of being
ransacked in 1250. Salimbene also mentions the conventual schools which the
friars had in many Italian towns.

10.4. St. Bonaventure, in his "Epistula de tribus quaestionibus" (Opera Omnia
VIII,332b-333a), states: "If the friars are not to preach fairy tales, but the
divine Word, they cannot accomplish this task lest they read; nor can they
read, if they do not possess books. Therefore they observe the Rule if they
have books in order to be able to preach".

10.5. These expressions are witness to the intimate relationship between study
and apostolic preaching in the case of the Friars Minor. Wisdom and sanctity
of life went hand in hand, and were the basis of the schools of study in the
Franciscan Order.

10.6. The educational system of the mendicant Orders in the Middle Ages
consisted in a general education given to all the literate friars, and an
advanced education given to the more gifted members of the Orders. The aim of
further study was to introduce the friar to the grade of "magisterium",
teaching post, in a university. Every Order had its "studia generalia", or
general houses of study. The Franciscans and Dominicans excelled in their
general "studia". In the case of the Franciscan Order we find schools in all
university cities of Europe, particularly in Paris, Oxford, Cambridge,
Köln, Bologna, Padua.

10.7. Here we will deal with the two centres of study of the Franciscan
Order during the 13th and early 14th centuries, namely Paris and Oxford. We
shall briefly present the outstanding figures who became lecturers and
philosophers in these university houses.

10.8. The 12th and 13th centuries in Europe were the time of the great
universities. Frederick Barbarossa had confirmed the university of Bologna in
1158, and the university of Paris was founded in 1200. The old monastery and
cathedral schools, which were the pillars of European culture ever since
Carolingian times, were now in decadence, and the university towns were
offering new opportunities in a new age.

10.9. In this historical setting we have to understand the importance which
the new Mendicant Orders, particularly the Preachers and Minors, were allotting
to the study of philosophy and theology. Francis of Assisi was no erudite
person himself. He preferred to call himself "simplex et idiota" (simple and
unlearned). Yet he did not say no to those friars to wanted to further their
studies without extinguishing the spirit of prayer and devotion, and with the
aim of acquiring the Spirit of the Lord and his holy manner of working. That
is why St. Bonaventure, in his "Epistula de tribus quaestionibus", likens the
humble beginnings of the Franciscan Order to those of the Church, which was
born of simple fishermen and grew to be enriched with illustrious and wise
doctors of faith.

10.10. Francis' followers were not only illiterate and simple men, longing for
a life of evangelical renewal. Among his followers, from the very beginning,
we notice clerics and learned men, like Sylvester, famous preachers and
theologians like Anthony of Padua. After Francis' death the Franciscan
movement became part and parcel of the cultural milieu in which it was born.
Friars thronged the university cities of Europe; great convents of study were
set up in Paris and Oxford; Franciscans became regent masters in the
universities; Commentaries on Scripture and on the works of classical
philosophy were produced. At the same time, the Franciscan Order was seen as a
family of itinerant friars, for whom there was no contradiction between the
university chair and the pulpit.

10.11. Francis was not against learning. He was against "curiositas", the
avidity of knowing for the sake of knowing, or of using knowledge as possession
and domination upon others. He knew that the office of preaching necessitated
study of the sacred texts. His disciples of later generations furthered their
study to include the realm of philosophy, on the ground that human reason was
an indispensable help in proving the truths of faith.

10.12. The quest for learning was also a cause of conflict in the Order. The
Spirituals were against studies. Led by Angelo Clareno, they were accusing
Elias and Crescentius of Jesi of having introduced many "studia" in the Order,
in which the friars were avidly seeking to learn Aristotle and sterile science,
and leaving aside prayer and the quest for divine wisdom. If this accusation
was true in certain cases, it certainly was levelled unjustly upon an Order
which was progressing along the road of apostolic commitment, especially
through its evangelic endeavourto preach the Word even in areas which lay far
away from Christian Europe.

10.13. A final word concerns our contemporary culture. The Franciscan ideal
needs to be incarnated into our own culture, to come to terms with our own way
of interpreting reality. This is the permanent challenge which we Franciscans
face in order to be relevant as harbingers of the Good News on the threshold of
the third millennium.

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Created / Updated Sunday, December 30, 2001
at 10:53:46
by John Abela ofm
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